Bali - Solo motorbike ride around the island - part 2 of 3

So I'm off next up. I'm not actually sure. I'm just going to head around the coast, check it out, see what's interesting and then eventually find somewhere to stay the night and do it all again the next day. To the main road and once again turn left. Then I spotted a side road that looked like it went to the beach. So riding down through the paddy fields the work does look back-breaking. At the end of the road was the beach. It had a place that is typical along this coastline where locals hang out normally late into the afternoon into sunset and this one was nestled amongst the trees. Back out onto the main road again, avoiding the roadworks and moving over for the police. I made my way through another town, customary welcome statue, some more open farmland. Then into the town of Nagara. It is the biggest town in the southwest of the island and what looked like army cadets doing a midday run. Well I guess you have to get used to the climate somehow. Brutal. Hang on, another laneway. Cows being used to mow the lawn on the football field, the environmentally friendly solution. It was a small fishing village with all the boats moored out the front and they seem to be upgrading their seawall. I guess that's one spot you could park your boat. Back out on the main road again and as always expect oncoming traffic to be in your lane. After all we are in Indonesia. Then I spotted a more promising track. It's good to be on dirt. So I saw a random dirt trail off the main road and well that's enough to go down it. Just ended up at the beach here. Really just wanted to rest my butt because again that seat's brutal. I think we've got guys coming across the beach. We are actually at the island of Java. This is where the main ferry cuts across just at the next town. You can actually see the main island but it actually keeps going further out. So right in that little channel. A little more mellow at this end of the island. There was a big sign as I turned in on the main road so this might be the start of that national park. There were monkeys on the side of the road too so probably have to watch out here too in case they decide to take some of the stuff. The bike I'm riding is a Kawasaki W175 with some barley modifications. Always handy to have a surfboard rack as surfboards are quite difficult to hold on to while riding a bike and luckily I packed a set of unit garage straps for my bag which makes a life a lot easier as well. Well following the locals lead I decided to explore the beach road. This bike's all you really need for barley as anything faster and more powerful could be a waste. As the types of roads and the amount of obstacles on them I mean it's just too dangerous to go faster and the bike has enough capability to do some exploring off the tarmac as well. I rode up the beach until I saw the path was blocked by a headland so I made my way back to find that dirt track. These are the little guys I need to watch out for when they try to cross the road. I made it to the port town of Kilimanjaro which has one of the most impressive welcome arches I've seen on barley. This is the closest point to the island of Java. Swimmable but not today. Besides who'd look after my gear and bike? I got to the ferry terminal entry gate but as I wasn't going in I turned around and headed back to the left hand turn that would take me over the top of the island. I'd spotted a couple on a Royal Enfield Himalayan which looked like they'd just come off the ferry more than likely riding the full length of the main Indonesian island chain with the amount of gear they had on the bike which would be an awesome trip. Might try that in the future. After a left hand turn dodging monkeys, vans and roadworks you can start to see the vegetation changing getting a lot drier. It's getting quite hot on the bike the northern end of Bali is the driest so stands to reason so I thought I'd find a place to stay. Actually just came across this place. Not too bad in the rice fields and I think I'm gonna hit that pool. So I hung in the pool and chilled out as the night fell. The frogs and bugs came out to make their own kind of orchestra of noise. Sticking with the second rule of the trip of not rushing I made use of the comfortable bed before venturing outside. It's quite peaceful here and that's probably got a lot to do with Mardai who's the owner and operator of this place. That's one of the things I find if you stay with locals or places run by locals the experience is just a lot better. They actually care. They've got more knowledge of the area. They haven't got a boss that they're trying to run around and do other things for. You know Mardai just takes his time to sit down and chat with you and tell what's in the area, history of the place. So I thought I'd get Mardai to talk about this area and what it means to him. Around 1964 our grandfather yeah when the Mount Agung in the east of Bali is blow up and then my grandfather is come to this area. My father born here and I am also born here. So there's many many people from the east side of Bali from close to Mount Agung is called Saraya living in this area. It was like my dream before. I was working for 17 years in tourism and from the waiter until the last one is assistant manager. I feel more comfortable when I handle the client like a friend, like a family. When I'm working is I cannot do that in 100% because I have to work with my boss. Now I own this place and I can dance what I want to dance here and then make the guests happy. We are happy also more like a welcoming a family or friends to host them in in our property. In Bali we believe that before we entering the house when we build finish we giving a soul for everything. We giving a soul by ceremony even for a motorcycle car or house. When you leave your house for more than one month nobody come in. There is no energy inside the house. There's no feel of the human inside the house. It will be easier to broken. So that's why on the corona time I sleep in my property change the room every maybe one night two nights. Yeah to giving the the soul of the human that otherwise the energy is different and then it will be easy broken. Mate made a deal with the farmer to use the land so he profit shares with the farmer who still grows rice on the rest of his farm. It does make a stunning view with the rice fields in the foreground and the mountains in the background. Mostly people coming for diving or snorkeling to the Menjangan Island. This area become a tourism because of the Menjangan Island the national park. 90 or 1992 man from I think from Germany they make five-star hotel here. It's before the electricity before the telephone in this area. Even no electricity he make the property already and then start from there. Our normal people here is a fisherman and farmer. Starting from there change a little bit. It's always interesting hearing other people's stories and that is why it's such a big part of what I normally do. It blows my mind that there was no power of phone lines in this part of Bali as late as 1992. Ah the dogs of Bali they love the scent of the road. It's time to continue the journey. I was leaving after lunch so I wouldn't be running too far before trying to find somewhere to stay. And again the plan is to ride until I feel like I want to stop. I pulled over to see what the monkeys were doing on the beach. It seems like they were digging for crustaceans or maybe seaweed. I'm not sure. It seemed there was a lot more tree coverage in this section and the roads were a lot more flowing. We could have a lot of fun on the bike if the roads were empty of traffic but it's Bali so they're not. I rode into the biggest town on the north side of the island Singaraja where the traffic got hectic again and I spotted the key ingredients of nasi goreng. I'm not quite sure what this guy was compensating for or maybe he only had enough money to jack up the front half and was saving up for the back up. Refuel stop which cost me about five dollars. Then I continued winding my way east until I got to the region of Tekul. Apologies for probably pronouncing all these names wrong. So I pulled down a side road, rode through a jungle of palm trees to find somewhere to stay. I found a quite little villa on the beach with no one about. The north side of the island is definitely a lot quieter. Subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of the trip around Bali. Until then thanks for watching.